Transformer-based CMOS oscillators

ABSTRACT

Techniques for providing transformer-based CMOS oscillators capable of operation with low voltage power supplies. In an exemplary embodiment, an LC tank is provided at the drains of a transistor pair, and the inductance of the LC tank is mutually magnetically coupled to an inductance between the gates of the transistor pair. A separate complementary transistor pair is also coupled to the LC tank. A further exemplary embodiment provides an LC tank at the gates of a transistor pair, as well as for three-way coupling amongst a tank inductance, an inductance between the gates of the transistor pair, and an inductance between the gates of a complementary transistor pair.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/406,525, filed Mar. 18, 2009, entitled, “TRANSFORMER-BASED CMOSOSCILLATORS,” which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosure relates to integrated circuit design, and moreparticularly, to the design of transformer-based CMOS oscillators havingcontrollable oscillation frequencies.

RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/363,911, entitled, “Integrated Voltage-Controlled OscillatorCircuits,” filed Feb. 2, 2009, assigned to the assignee of the presentapplication, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by referencein their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Voltage-controlled oscillators (VCO's) and digitally-controlledoscillators (DCO's) are used to generate a signal having an oscillationfrequency determined by a control signal. In a VCO, a fine tuningcomponent of the control signal is specified using an analog controlvoltage, while in a DCO, the fine tuning component of the control signalis specified using a digital control signal. To save power inelectronics devices such as portable communications devices, VCO's andDCO's are increasingly designed to work with power supplies having lowervoltage levels.

In one prior art oscillator circuit design, an LC tank having a variablecapacitance is coupled to at least one cross-coupled transistor pair.The cross-coupled transistor pair functions as a negative resistance,causing the voltage across the LC tank to oscillate at the tank resonantfrequency. In prior art oscillator designs, the transistor drains may bedirectly DC cross-coupled to the transistor gates. This DCcross-coupling reduces the voltage headroom available from a low voltagepower supply, since the drain-source voltage is made equal to thegate-source turn-on voltage of the transistors. In a CMOS cross-coupledpair oscillator design, wherein both an NMOS and a PMOS cross-coupledpair are provided, the voltage supply must support both the NMOSgate-source turn-on voltage and the PMOS gate-source turn-on voltage.

It would be desirable to provide techniques for oscillator design thatmore efficiently utilize the voltage headroom available from a lowvoltage power supply, while adequately meeting other oscillator designcriteria such as low phase noise.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus for generatinga signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pair of outputnodes, the apparatus comprising: a first transistor and a secondtransistor, the drains of the first and second transistors coupled tothe pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to the gates of thefirst and second transistors; a second inductor coupled to the pair ofoutput nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupled to thefirst inductor; a capacitor having a selectable capacitance coupled tothe pair of output nodes; and a DC cross-coupled complementarytransistor pair coupled to the pair of output nodes.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes, the apparatus comprising: a first transistor and asecond transistor, the drains of the first and second transistorscoupled to the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to thegates of the first and second transistors; a second inductor coupled tothe pair of output nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupledto the first inductor; a capacitor having a selectable capacitancecoupled to the pair of output nodes; and a first complementarytransistor and a second complementary transistor, the drains of thefirst and second complementary transistors coupled to the pair of outputnodes, the gate of the first complementary transistor AC-coupled to thedrain of the second complementary transistor via a second AC-couplingcapacitor, the gate of the second complementary transistor AC-coupled tothe drain of the first complementary transistor via a first AC-couplingcapacitor.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes, the apparatus comprising: a first transistor and asecond transistor, the drains of the first and second transistorscoupled to the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to thegates of the first and second transistors; a second inductor coupled tothe pair of output nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupledto the first inductor; a first complementary transistor and a secondcomplementary transistor, the drains of the first and secondcomplementary transistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; and athird inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondcomplementary transistors, the third inductor being magnetically coupledto the second inductor.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes in an oscillator, the oscillator comprising a firsttransistor and a second transistor, the drains of the first and secondtransistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; the oscillator furthercomprising a first inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondtransistors; the oscillator further comprising a second inductor coupledto the pair of output nodes; the oscillator further comprising acapacitor having a selectable capacitance coupled to the pair of outputnodes; the method comprising: magnetically coupling the second inductorto the first inductor; coupling the signals at the gates of the firstand second transistors via the first inductor to a bias; and couplingthe signals at the drains of a cross-coupled complementary transistorpair to the pair of output nodes.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes in an oscillator, the oscillator comprising a firsttransistor and a second transistor, the drains of the first and secondtransistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; the oscillator furthercomprising a first inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondtransistors; the oscillator further comprising a second inductor coupledto the pair of output nodes; the oscillator further comprising acapacitor having a selectable capacitance coupled to the pair of outputnodes; the method comprising: magnetically coupling the second inductorto the first inductor; coupling the signals at the gates of the firstand second transistors via the first inductor to a bias; coupling thesignals at the gates of a complementary transistor pair via AC couplingcapacitors to the pair of output nodes; coupling the signals at thedrains of the complementary transistor pair to the pair of output nodes,the drain of each of the complementary transistor coupled to the gate ofthe other complementary transistor via one of the AC couplingcapacitors; and coupling the signals at the gates of the complementarytransistor pair to a bias.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes in an oscillator, the oscillator comprising a firsttransistor and a second transistor, the drains of the first and secondtransistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; the oscillator furthercomprising a first inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondtransistors; the oscillator further comprising a second inductor coupledto the pair of output nodes; the oscillator further comprising a firstcomplementary transistor and a second complementary transistor, thedrains of the first and second complementary transistors coupled to thepair of output nodes; the oscillator further comprising a third inductorcoupled to the gates of the complementary transistors; the methodcomprising: magnetically coupling the second inductor to the firstinductor; magnetically coupling the third inductor to the secondinductor; coupling the gates of the first and second transistors via thefirst inductor to a bias; and coupling the signals at the gates of thefirst and second complementary transistors via the third inductor to abias.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes in an oscillator, the oscillator comprising a firsttransistor and a second transistor, the drains of the first and secondtransistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; the oscillator furthercomprising a first inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondtransistors; the oscillator further comprising a second inductor coupledto the pair of output nodes; the method comprising: magneticallycoupling the second inductor to the first inductor; and controlling theoscillation frequency by configuring a selectable bank of capacitorscoupled to the gates of the first and second transistors.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides an apparatus forgenerating a signal having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes, the apparatus comprising: a first transistor and asecond transistor, the drains of the first and second transistorscoupled to the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to thegates of the first and second transistors; a second inductor coupled tothe pair of output nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupledto the first inductor; means for generating a negative resistancecoupled to the pair of output nodes, the means comprising first andsecond complementary transistors; and means for selecting theoscillation frequency.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device forwireless communications, the device comprising a TX LO signal generator,at least one baseband TX amplifier, an upconverter coupled to the TX LOsignal generator and the at least one baseband TX amplifier, a TX filtercoupled to the output of the upconverter, a power amplifier (PA) coupledto the TX filter, an RX LO signal generator, an RX filter, adownconverter coupled to the RX LO signal generator and the RX filter, alow-noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the RX filter, and a duplexercoupled to the PA and the LNA, at least one of the TX LO and RX LOsignal generator comprising an oscillator having a pair of output nodescoupled to a mixer, the oscillator comprising: a first transistor and asecond transistor, the drains of the first and second transistorscoupled to the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to thegates of the first and second transistors; a second inductor coupled tothe pair of output nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupledto the first inductor; a capacitor having a selectable capacitancecoupled to the pair of output nodes; and a cross-coupled complementarytransistor pair coupled to the pair of output nodes.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device forwireless communications, the device comprising a TX LO signal generator,at least one baseband TX amplifier, an upconverter coupled to the TX LOsignal generator and the at least one baseband TX amplifier, a TX filtercoupled to the output of the upconverter, a power amplifier (PA) coupledto the TX filter, an RX LO signal generator, an RX filter, adownconverter coupled to the RX LO signal generator and the RX filter, alow-noise amplifier (LNA) coupled to the RX filter, and a duplexercoupled to the PA and the LNA, at least one of the TX LO and RX LOsignal generator comprising an oscillator having a pair of output nodescoupled to a mixer, the oscillator comprising: a first transistor and asecond transistor, the drains of the first and second transistorscoupled to the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupled to thegates of the first and second transistors; a second inductor coupled tothe pair of output nodes, the second inductor being magnetically coupledto the first inductor; a first complementary transistor and a secondcomplementary transistor, the drains of the first and secondcomplementary transistors coupled to the pair of output nodes; and athird inductor coupled to the gates of the first and secondcomplementary transistors, the third inductor being magnetically coupledto the second inductor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art implementation of a CMOS cross-coupledVCO;

FIG. 2 illustrates another prior art CMOS VCO;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCO according tothe present disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCOaccording to the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCOaccording to the present disclosure, wherein three mutually coupledinductors are provided;

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a common-mode feedback(CMFB) biasing scheme for biasing the CMOS VCO in FIG. 5;

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCOaccording to the present disclosure, wherein a switchable bank ofcapacitors is provided at the gate of a PMOS pair;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method utilizing a CMOSVCO such as the one shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method utilizing a CMOSVCO such as the such as the one shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method utilizing a CMOSVCO such as the one shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method utilizing a CMOSVCO such as the one shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 illustrates a block diagram of a design of a wirelesscommunication device in which the techniques of the present disclosuremay be implemented; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCOaccording to the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention and is not intended to represent the only exemplaryembodiments in which the present invention can be practiced. The term“exemplary” used throughout this description means “serving as anexample, instance, or illustration,” and should not necessarily beconstrued as preferred or advantageous over other exemplary embodiments.The detailed description includes specific details for the purpose ofproviding a thorough understanding of the exemplary embodiments of theinvention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that theexemplary embodiments of the invention may be practiced without thesespecific details. In some instances, well known structures and devicesare shown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring the noveltyof the exemplary embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a prior art implementation of a CMOS cross-coupledpair VCO 100. In FIG. 1, inductance L and capacitance C form an LC tank,whose end terminals OUT1, OUT2 form a pair of output nodes coupled to aDC cross-coupled NMOS pair N1, N2 and a DC cross-coupled PMOS pair P1,P2. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that thecross-coupled NMOS and PMOS pairs function as negative resistances,causing the voltage across the LC tank to oscillate at the tank resonantfrequency.

In a VCO implementation, to control the tank resonant frequency, thecapacitance C may include a switchable capacitor bank (not shown) forcoarse frequency tuning and/or a varactor (not shown) for fine frequencytuning. In a DCO implementation, the fine frequency tuning may beaccomplished by selectively enabling a plurality of digitally selectablecapacitors (not shown) making up C.

One disadvantage of the prior art CMOS VCO 100 is the relatively largevoltage headroom required by the DC cross-coupled transistor pairs N1,N2 and P1, P2. In particular, the PMOS transistors P1, P2 require aminimum gate turn-on voltage Von_P during operation, while the NMOStransistors N1, N2 similarly require a minimum gate turn-on voltageVon_N. As the gate of each transistor is DC cross-coupled to the drainof the other transistor of the pair, the DC bias voltages for thetransistors consume a total of Von_P+Von_N of the total headroomavailable from the voltage supply VDD. When a low voltage supply VDD isused, this may leave insufficient voltage margin for the start-up gainthat is typically required to initiate oscillation in the circuit.

FIG. 2 illustrates another prior art CMOS VCO 200. In FIG. 2, the gatesof transistors P1, P2 are separately DC biased by the voltage Vbias_Pusing resistors RP1, RP2, respectively, while transistors N1, N2 areseparately DC biased by the voltage Vbias_N using resistors RN1, RN2,respectively. In addition, the gates of the transistors P1, P2, N1, N2are capacitively cross-coupled to the drain of the other transistor ofthe pair, using AC coupling capacitors AC2, AC1, AC4, AC3, respectively.Because the drain of each transistor is DC-decoupled from the gate ofthe other transistor of the pair, it is possible to bias the gate-sourcevoltage of each transistor independently of its drain-source voltage.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCO 300 accordingto the present disclosure. In FIG. 3, two inductors L1, L2 are provided,with L1 being coupled to the gates of P1, P2, while L2 is provided asthe tank inductance. In the exemplary embodiment shown, L1 and L2 aremutually magnetically coupled, i.e., inductances L1, L2 collectivelyform a transformer. Note the bi-directional arrow shown betweeninductors L1 and L2, and elsewhere in the figures, is meant toillustrate mutual magnetic coupling between the elements pointed to. Themutual coupling between L1 and L2 allows the signal voltages at outputnodes OUT2, OUT1 to be coupled to the gates of P1, P2, respectively. ToDC bias P1, P2, the inductor L1 is tapped, e.g., center-tapped, by thebias voltage Vbias_P. A DC cross-coupled NMOS pair N1, N2 is furthercoupled to the output.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that due to the mutualmagnetic coupling between inductors L1 and L2, a negative resistance iseffectively created without a DC or capacitive cross-coupling connectionbetween the drains and gates of P1, P2.

In an exemplary embodiment, the appropriate coupling coefficient betweenL1 and L2 may be a design parameter chosen based on, e.g., thesemiconductor process technology used. Typical values may be, e.g., 0.5,0.3, or 0.2. Note these values are given for illustrative purposes only,and are not meant to restrict the scope of the present disclosure to anyparticular values explicitly given.

In an exemplary embodiment wherein a frequency of operation is around 5GHz, L2 may have an inductance of 0.45 nH, while L1 may have aninductance of 1.5 nH.

In an exemplary embodiment, L2, or the tank inductance, may have arelatively high Q (i.e., quality factor), while L1 may have a lower Qthan L2.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that varioustechnologies exist for implementing transformers in integrated circuitprocesses, e.g., interwinding inductors, stacking inductors, etc. Anysuch technologies are contemplated to be within the scope of the presentdisclosure.

One of ordinary skill in the art will further appreciate that theinductor L1 may be implemented as a single inductor as shown, or it maybe implemented as two or more series-coupled constituent inductors. Suchalternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated to be within thescope of the present disclosure.

Note while exemplary embodiments are described with reference to VCO'sherein, the techniques of the present disclosure may be readily appliedto the design of DCO's as well. Such alternative exemplary embodimentsare contemplated to be within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 700 utilizing aCMOS VCO such as the VCO 300 in FIG. 3. Note the methods describedherein are shown for illustrative purposes only, and are not meant tolimit the scope of the present disclosure to any particular methodsdisclosed.

At step 710, L1 is magnetically coupled to L2.

At step 720, the signals at the gates of the PMOS pair are coupled viainductor L1 to a bias voltage.

At step 730, the signals at the drains of the cross-coupled NMOS pairare coupled to the VCO output nodes OUT1, OUT2.

Note while certain exemplary embodiments described herein may show a DCor capacitively cross-coupled NMOS pair with a PMOS inductor-coupledpair, one of ordinary skill in the art may readily derive alternativeexemplary embodiments (not shown) having a DC or capacitivelycross-coupled PMOS pair with an NMOS inductor-coupled pair. Such analternative exemplary embodiment is contemplated to be within the scopeof the present disclosure.

Further note that in this specification and in the claims, the term“complementary” may be used to denote the relationship between a PMOStransistor and an NMOS transistor. For example, the complementarytransistor pair to an NMOS pair may be a PMOS pair, and vice versa.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCO 400according to the present disclosure, wherein the gates of PMOStransistors P1, P2 are coupled using an inductor L1 magnetically coupledto the tank inductance L2 as previously described, and also wherein theNMOS transistors N1, N2 are capacitively cross-coupled. The NMOStransistors N1, N2 in VCO 400 may advantageously consume less voltageheadroom than a pair of DC cross-coupled NMOS transistors.

FIG. 7A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 700A utilizing aCMOS VCO such as the VCO 400 in FIG. 4.

At step 710A, L1 is magnetically coupled to L2.

At step 720A, the signals at the gates of the PMOS pair are coupled viainductor L1 to a bias.

At step 730A, the signals at the gates of the NMOS pair are coupled viaAC coupling capacitors to VCO output nodes OUT2, OUT1.

At step 740A, the signals at the drains of the NMOS pair are coupled tothe VCO output nodes OUT1, OUT2.

At step 750A, the signals at the gates of the NMOS pair are coupled tothe bias.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCO 500according to the present disclosure. In the VCO 500, a transformer withthree mutually magnetically coupled inductors L1, L2, L3 is provided.One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that such transformersmay be directly implemented using CMOS technology, a combination of CMOStechnology and package metal layers, or package metal layersexclusively. Inductors L1, L2 function in the same manner as describedfor L1, L2 in the VCO 400. Inductor L3, which is mutually magneticallycoupled to inductors L1, L2, couples the voltages at output nodes OUT2,OUT1 to the gates of N1, N2, respectively. To bias transistors N1, N2,the inductor L3 is tapped, e.g., center-tapped, by the bias voltageVbias_N.

FIG. 7B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 700B utilizing aCMOS VCO such as the VCO 500 in FIG. 5.

At step 710B, L2 is magnetically coupled to L1.

At step 720B, L3 is magnetically coupled to L2.

At step 730B, the signals at the gates of the PMOS pair are coupled viaL1 to a bias.

At step 740B, the signals at the gates of the NMOS pair are coupled viaL3 to the bias.

FIG. 5A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a common-mode feedback(CMFB) biasing scheme for biasing transistor P1, P2 in the VCO 500. Notethe biasing scheme is shown for illustrative purposes only, and is notmeant to limit the scope of the present disclosure to any particularbiasing scheme. In FIG. 5A, the differential amplifier COMP senses thevoltage at OUT2, and adjusts the gate bias of P1, P2 to bring OUT2 closeto the reference voltage VDD/2.

FIG. 6 illustrates an alternative exemplary embodiment of a CMOS VCO 600according to the present disclosure, wherein a tank capacitance C1 iscoupled to the gates of the PMOS transistors P1, P2, rather than totheir drains.

In an exemplary embodiment of a VCO, the capacitance C1 may include botha switchable bank of capacitors for coarse frequency tuning and ananalog-voltage controlled varactor element for fine frequency tuning. Inan alternative exemplary embodiment depicted in FIG. 9, the capacitanceC1 may include only the switchable bank of capacitors 902 for coarsetuning, while a separate varactor element 904 for fine tuning may becoupled to the drains of the PMOS transistors P1, P2.

In a further alternative exemplary embodiment of a DCO (not shown), avaractor element may readily be replaced by a plurality of switchablecapacitors. Such alternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated tobe within the scope of the present disclosure.

In an exemplary embodiment of VCO 600, the quality factor Q of theinductor L1 may be made higher than the Q of the inductor L2. Forexample, the Q of L2 may be 4 or 5, while the Q of L1 may range from 15to 25. Note the exemplary Q values are given for illustration only, andare not meant to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7C illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a method 700C utilizing aCMOS VCO such as the VCO 600 in FIG. 6.

At step 710C, L1 is magnetically coupled to L2, which is magneticallycoupled to L3.

At step 720C, the VCO oscillation frequency is tuned by configuring aselectable bank of capacitors coupled to the gates of the PMOS pair.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that all techniquesdescribed herein for configuring a PMOS transistor pair are equallyapplicable to configuring an NMOS transistor pair. For example, in lightof the topology of the VCO 300 disclosed in FIG. 3, one of ordinaryskill in the art may readily derive a VCO topology (not shown) wherein across-coupled PMOS pair is provided, and a tank inductance ismagnetically coupled to an inductance connecting the gate of a firstNMOS transistor with the gate of a second NMOS transistor. The sameapplies to the circuit topologies disclosed in FIGS. 4, 5, and 6. Suchalternative exemplary embodiments are contemplated to be within thescope of the present disclosure.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that while exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure have been described with referenceto MOS transistors (i.e., MOSFET's), the techniques of the presentdisclosure need not be limited to MOSFET-based designs, and may bereadily applied to alternative exemplary embodiments (not shown)employing bipolar junction transistors (or BJT's) and/or otherthree-terminal transconductance devices. For example, in an exemplaryembodiment (not shown), any of the VCO's described may utilize BJT'srather than MOSFET's, with the collectors, bases, and emitters of theBJT's coupled as shown for the drains, gates, and sources, respectively,of the MOSFET's shown. Furthermore, unless otherwise noted, in thisspecification and in the claims, the terms “drain,” “gate,” and “source”may encompass both the conventional meanings of those terms associatedwith MOSFET's, as well as the corresponding nodes of otherthree-terminal transconductance devices, such as BJT's, whichcorrespondence will be evident to one of ordinary skill in the art ofcircuit design.

FIG. 8 shows a block diagram of a design of a wireless communicationdevice 800 in which the techniques of the present disclosure may beimplemented. In the design shown in FIG. 8, wireless device 800 includesa transceiver 820 and a data processor 810 having a memory 812 to storedata and program codes. Transceiver 820 includes a transmitter 830 and areceiver 850 that support bi-directional communication. In general,wireless device 800 may include any number of transmitters and anynumber of receivers for any number of communication systems andfrequency bands.

A transmitter or a receiver may be implemented with a super-heterodynearchitecture or a direct-conversion architecture. In thesuper-heterodyne architecture, a signal is frequency converted betweenradio frequency (RF) and baseband in multiple stages, e.g., from RF toan intermediate frequency (IF) in one stage, and then from IF tobaseband in another stage for a receiver. In the direct-conversionarchitecture, a signal is frequency converted between RF and baseband inone stage. The super-heterodyne and direct-conversion architectures mayuse different circuit blocks and/or have different requirements. In thedesign shown in FIG. 8, transmitter 830 and receiver 850 are implementedwith the direct-conversion architecture.

In the transmit path, data processor 810 processes data to betransmitted and provides I and Q analog output signals to transmitter830. Within transmitter 830, lowpass filters 832 a and 832 b filter theI and Q analog output signals, respectively, to remove undesired imagescaused by the prior digital-to-analog conversion. Amplifiers (Amp) 834 aand 834 b amplify the signals from lowpass filters 832 a and 832 b,respectively, and provide I and Q baseband signals. An upconverter 840upconverts the I and Q baseband signals with I and Q transmit (TX) localoscillating (LO) signals from a TX LO signal generator 870 and providesan upconverted signal. A filter 842 filters the upconverted signal toremove undesired images caused by the frequency upconversion as well asnoise in a receive frequency band. A power amplifier (PA) 844 amplifiesthe signal from filter 842 to obtain the desired output power level andprovides a transmit RF signal. The transmit RF signal is routed througha duplexer or switch 846 and transmitted via an antenna 848.

In the receive path, antenna 848 receives signals transmitted by basestations and provides a received RF signal, which is routed throughduplexer or switch 846 and provided to a low noise amplifier (LNA) 852.The received RF signal is amplified by LNA 852 and filtered by a filter854 to obtain a desirable RF input signal. A downconverter 860downconverts the RF input signal with I and Q receive (RX) LO signalsfrom an RX LO signal generator 880 and provides I and Q basebandsignals. The I and Q baseband signals are amplified by amplifiers 862 aand 862 b and further filtered by lowpass filters 864 a and 864 b toobtain I and Q analog input signals, which are provided to dataprocessor 810.

TX LO signal generator 870 generates the I and Q TX LO signals used forfrequency upconversion. RX LO signal generator 880 generates the I and QRX LO signals used for frequency downconversion. Each LO signal is aperiodic signal with a particular fundamental frequency. A PLL 872receives timing information from data processor 810 and generates acontrol signal used to adjust the frequency and/or phase of the TX LOsignals from LO signal generator 870. Similarly, a PLL 882 receivestiming information from data processor 810 and generates a controlsignal used to adjust the frequency and/or phase of the RX LO signalsfrom LO signal generator 880.

FIG. 8 shows an example transceiver design. In general, the conditioningof the signals in a transmitter and a receiver may be performed by oneor more stages of amplifier, filter, upconverter, downconverter, etc.These circuit blocks may be arranged differently from the configurationshown in FIG. 8. Furthermore, other circuit blocks not shown in FIG. 8may also be used to condition the signals in the transmitter andreceiver. Some circuit blocks in FIG. 8 may also be omitted. All or aportion of transceiver 820 may be implemented on one or more analogintegrated circuits (ICs), RF ICs (RFICs), mixed-signal ICs, etc.

LO signal generators 870 and 880 may each include a frequency dividerthat receives a clock signal and provides a divider output signal. Theclock signal may be generated by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO)or some other types of oscillator. The clock signal may also be referredto as a VCO signal, an oscillator signal, etc. In any case, it may bedesirable to obtain differential output signals from a frequencydivider. The techniques of the present disclosure may be readily appliedto the design of such a VCO in the wireless communication device 800.

In this specification and in the claims, it will be understood that whenan element is referred to as being “connected to” or “coupled to”another element, it can be directly connected or coupled to the otherelement or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when anelement is referred to as being “directly connected to” or “directlycoupled to” another element, there are no intervening elements present.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrativelogical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm steps described inconnection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the exemplary embodiments of the invention.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein may beimplemented or performed with a general purpose processor, a DigitalSignal Processor (DSP), an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or other programmablelogic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor,but in the alternative, the processor may be any conventional processor,controller, microcontroller, or state machine. A processor may also beimplemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combinationof a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one ormore microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other suchconfiguration.

The steps of a method or algorithm described in connection with theexemplary embodiments disclosed herein may be embodied directly inhardware, in a software module executed by a processor, or in acombination of the two. A software module may reside in Random AccessMemory (RAM), flash memory, Read Only Memory (ROM), ElectricallyProgrammable ROM (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM(EEPROM), registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any otherform of storage medium known in the art. An exemplary storage medium iscoupled to the processor such that the processor can read informationfrom, and write information to, the storage medium. In the alternative,the storage medium may be integral to the processor. The processor andthe storage medium may reside in an ASIC. The ASIC may reside in a userterminal. In the alternative, the processor and the storage medium mayreside as discrete components in a user terminal.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

The previous description of the disclosed exemplary embodiments isprovided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use thepresent invention. Various modifications to these exemplary embodimentswill be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the genericprinciples defined herein may be applied to other exemplary embodimentswithout departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, thepresent invention is not intended to be limited to the exemplaryembodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scopeconsistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

The invention claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for generating signals havinga controlled oscillation frequency at a pair of output nodes, theapparatus comprising: a first transistor and a second transistor,wherein a drain of the first transistor is coupled to a first node ofthe pair of output nodes and a drain of the second transistor is coupledto a second node of the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupledto a gate of the first transistor and a gate of the second transistor; adifferential amplifier, wherein an inverting input of the differentialamplifier is coupled to the second node of the pair of output nodes, anon-inverting input of the differential amplifier is coupled to areference voltage, and an output of the differential amplifier iscoupled to the first inductor; a second inductor coupled to the firstnode of the pair of output nodes and the second node of the pair ofoutput nodes, wherein the second inductor is magnetically coupled to thefirst inductor, a capacitor coupled to the first node of the pair ofoutput nodes and the second node of the pair of output nodes; a thirdtransistor and a fourth transistor, wherein a drain of the thirdtransistor is coupled to the first node of the pair of output nodes anda drain of the fourth transistor is coupled to the second node of thepair of output nodes; and a third inductor coupled to a gate of thethird transistor and a gate of the fourth transistor, wherein the thirdinductor is magnetically coupled to the second inductor, and wherein thethird inductor is tapped with a bias voltage.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are p-typemetal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors, and wherein the thirdtransistor and the fourth transistor are n-type metal oxidesemiconductor (NMOS) transistors.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe first transistor and the second transistor are n-type metal oxidesemiconductor (NMOS) transistors, and wherein the third transistor andthe fourth transistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS)transistors.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the capacitorcomprises a first selectable bank of capacitors for coarse frequencytuning and a second selectable bank of capacitors for fine frequencytuning.
 5. A method for generating signals having a controlledoscillation frequency at a pair of output nodes of an oscillator, theoscillator comprising: a first transistor and a second transistor,wherein a drain of the first transistor is coupled to a first node ofthe pair of output nodes and a drain of the second transistor is coupledto a second node of the pair of output nodes; a first inductor coupledto a gate of the first transistor and a gate of the second transistor; adifferential amplifier, wherein an inverting input of the differentialamplifier is coupled to the second node of the pair of output nodes, anon-inverting input of the differential amplifier is coupled to areference voltage, and an output of the differential amplifier iscoupled to the first inductor; a second inductor coupled to the firstnode of the pair of output nodes and the second node of the pair ofoutput nodes, wherein the second inductor is magnetically coupled to thefirst inductor; a capacitor coupled to the first node of the pair ofoutput nodes and the second node of the pair of output nodes; a thirdtransistor and a fourth transistor, wherein a drain of the thirdtransistor is coupled to the first node of the pair of output nodes anda drain of the fourth transistor is coupled to the second node of thepair of output nodes; and a third inductor coupled to a gate of thethird transistor and a gate of the fourth transistor, wherein the thirdinductor is magnetically coupled to the second inductor, and wherein thethird inductor is tapped with a bias voltage; and the method comprising:magnetically coupling the second inductor to the first inductor;magnetically coupling the third inductor to the second inductor;coupling signals at the gate of the first transistor and the gate of thesecond transistor via the first inductor to the output of thedifferential amplifier; and coupling signals at the gate of the thirdtransistor and the gate of the fourth transistor to the bias voltage. 6.The method of claim 5, wherein the first transistor and the secondtransistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors, andwherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are n-type metaloxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistors.
 7. The method of claim 5,wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are n-type metaloxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistors, and wherein the third transistorand the fourth transistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS)transistors.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the capacitor comprises afirst selectable bank of capacitors for coarse frequency tuning and asecond selectable bank of capacitors for fine frequency tuning.
 9. Anapparatus for generating signals having a controlled oscillationfrequency at a pair of output nodes, the apparatus comprising: a firsttransistor and a second transistor, wherein a drain of the firsttransistor is coupled to a first node of the pair of output nodes and adrain of the second transistor is coupled to a second node of the pairof output nodes; an inductive-capacitance (LC) tank including a firstinductor coupled in parallel with a first capacitor, wherein the LC tankis coupled to a gate of the first transistor and a gate of the secondtransistor, wherein the first inductor is tapped with a first biasvoltage, and wherein the first capacitor comprises a switchable bank ofcapacitors; a second capacitor, wherein the second capacitor is coupledto the drain of the first transistor and to the drain of the secondtransistor, wherein the second capacitor comprises a plurality ofswitchable capacitors; a second inductor coupled to the first node ofthe pair of output nodes and the second node of the pair of outputnodes, wherein the second inductor is magnetically coupled to the firstinductor; a third transistor and a fourth transistor, wherein a drain ofthe third transistor is coupled to the first node of the pair of outputnodes and a drain of the fourth transistor is coupled to the second nodeof the pair of output nodes; and a third inductor coupled to a gate ofthe third transistor and a gate of the fourth transistor, wherein thethird inductor is magnetically coupled to the second inductor, andwherein the third inductor is tapped with a second bias voltage.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 9, wherein the first transistor and the secondtransistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors, andwherein the third transistor and the fourth transistor are n-type metaloxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistors.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9,wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are n-type metaloxide semiconductor (NMOS) transistors, and wherein the third transistorand the fourth transistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS)transistors.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the switchable bankof capacitors is for coarse frequency tuning and the plurality ofswitchable capacitors is for fine frequency tuning.
 13. A method forgenerating signals having a controlled oscillation frequency at a pairof output nodes of an oscillator, the oscillator comprising: a firsttransistor and a second transistor, wherein a drain of the firsttransistor is coupled to a first node of the pair of output nodes and adrain of the second transistor is coupled to a second node of the pairof output nodes; an inductive-capacitance (LC) tank including a firstinductor coupled in parallel with a first capacitor, wherein the LC tankis coupled to a gate of the first transistor and a gate of the secondtransistor, wherein the first inductor is tapped with a first biasvoltage, wherein the first capacitor comprises a switchable bank ofcapacitors; a second capacitor, wherein the second capacitor is coupledto the drain of the first transistor and to the drain of the secondtransistor, wherein the second capacitor comprises a plurality ofswitchable capacitors; a second inductor coupled to the first node ofthe pair of output nodes and the second node of the pair of outputnodes, wherein the second inductor is magnetically coupled to the firstinductor; a third transistor and a fourth transistor, wherein a drain ofthe third transistor is coupled to the first node of the pair of outputnodes and a drain of the fourth transistor is coupled to the second nodeof the pair of output nodes; and a third inductor coupled to a gate ofthe third transistor and a gate of the fourth transistor, wherein thethird inductor is magnetically coupled to the second inductor, andwherein the third inductor is tapped with a second bias voltage; and themethod comprising: magnetically coupling the first inductor to thesecond inductor; magnetically coupling the second inductor to the thirdinductor; and tuning a voltage-controlled-oscillator oscillationfrequency by configuring the first capacitor.
 14. The method of claim13, wherein the first transistor and the second transistor are p-typemetal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) transistors, and wherein the thirdtransistor and the fourth transistor are n-type metal oxidesemiconductor (NMOS) transistors.
 15. The method of claim 13, whereinthe first transistor and the second transistor are n-type metal oxidesemiconductor (NMOS) transistors, and wherein the third transistor andthe fourth transistor are p-type metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS)transistors.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the switchable bank ofcapacitors is for coarse frequency tuning and the plurality ofswitchable capacitors is for fine frequency tuning.